Summary: By faith we have become the adopted sons and daughters of God. We are no longer slaves, but heirs of the Kingdom.

And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. [28] There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus.

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves great wealth for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. [2] They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set.

And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world. [4] But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. [5] God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father. [7] Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you.